Singer-songwriter Neil Young said he’s sticking with his plan–which he announced last October–to remove all his music from Amazon. He criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for his backing of president Donald Trump, whose policies he heavily condemned.
“Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos, a billionaire backer of the president,” he wrote. “The president’s international policies and his support of ICE make it impossible for me to ignore his actions. If you feel as I do, I strongly recommend that you do not use Amazon. There are many ways to avoid Amazon and support individual Americans and American companies that supply the same products. I have done that with my music and people who are looking can find it in a lot of other places.”
READ: President Trump’s ‘Indecent Proposal’ for Greenland (
Young added that record stores provide all his vinyl and CDs, while “the digital music world has many alternative options to purchase my music if you like it”.
“My music will never be available on Amazon, as long as it is owned by Bezos. My position is unfortunately harmful to my record company in the short term, but I think the message I am sending is important and clear. Thanks for buying music locally and from independent digital services,” he added.
Young’s complete catalog and a vast archive of live concerts, studio outtakes, and concert films are available on the Neil Young Archives in super-high-definition sound. While prices range from $24.99 to $99.99 a year, he just gifted it all to the people of Greenland.
“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government,” he wrote. “It is my sincere wish for you to be able to enjoy all of my music in your beautiful Greenland home, in its highest quality. This is an offer of peace and love. All the music I made during the last 62 years is yours to hear. You can renew for free was long as you’re in Greenland. We do hope other organizations will follow in the spirit of our example.”
This comes following Trump’s assertion that Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is strategically vital to U.S. security. Trump wrote on social media that other global powers such as China and Russia “want Greenland,” and only the United States can secure it effectively. The U.S. president drew widespread criticism for this, especially from European countries.